09:06

Roma

A survey of Roma living conditions in 11 EU member states by the European Commission found that around 90 per cent of Roma live below national poverty lines; fewer than one in three are in paid employment; half reported suffering discrimination in the past year and 45 per cent live in households lacking either an indoor kitchen, a toilet, bathroom or electricity. Bulgarian Roma live, on average, 10 years less than the rest of the population. In Italy, the gap is 20 years. One in four Roma children in Romania make it through high school.

Gypsies, or Roma, are the most mysterious - and reviled - people in Europe. This is an interesting and balanced article from Prospect.